Different products are used by parents to aid in the positioning of their children to facilitate feeding them from the time the child is an infant until the child is old enough and large enough to sit at a table properly. One such product is a high chair, which is typically used to support infants and small toddlers at an elevated position so that the caregiver can easily feed the child. Another such product is a booster seat that is typically attached in a detachable manner to a standard chair so that the child is elevated on the chair to reach a normal table. Booster seats are typically used with older toddlers.
The high chair is a self-standing unit that provides a safe and secure seating area with a feeding tray that is removable from the high chair to facilitate the placement of the child on the high chair and to facilitate the cleaning of the tray and high chair structure. High chairs can incorporate height adjustment mechanism so that the seat can be vertically positioned to fit various table heights so that the tray mechanism could be removed from the high chair and the child positioned on the high chair be pushed up to a table. The booster seats typically attach to the standard chair with one or two adjustable straps so that the booster seat can be removed when no longer in use. The typical booster seat positions the child about three or four inches above the chair seat to locate the child at the table. Some booster seats are provided with height adjustment to fit various table heights. Some booster seats are adapted to receive a tray mechanism so that the booster seat can be utilized away from the table.
The product to be used at meal time to seat a child will depend on the time of day and the family circumstances. For example, if a single caregiver is at home, a self-standing high chair moved to a medium height position may be the product of choice at mid-day to locate the child facing the caregiver while the caregiver is seated nearby. The high chair could be moved to a highest height if the caregiver is standing nearby, such as in the process of preparing a meal for the rest of the family. At the evening meal, the booster seat or the high chair in the lowest position may be chosen so that the child could be seated at the family table. Traveling presents additional problems that can be solved through the use of a portable booster seat.
The age of the child will influence the product selected for use in seating the child to eat. Typically, smaller, younger children use high chairs because the high chair provides a higher seated position for the child and the child is light enough for the caregiver to pick up and place into the elevated high chair seat. As the child grows, the child no longer needs the extra seated height and is normally heavier, and thus more difficult to pick up. In such cases, the booster seat is usually the product of choice.
The high chair disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,755, granted to Angelo Rho on Nov. 24, 1992, includes a base stand constituted by two foldable arms on which is mounted a chair that slides on top of and is supported by the foldable arms. The Rho high chair structure can be disassembled and the base stand folded to reduce space required for storage. Similarly, the child's chair disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,719,371, granted on Apr. 13, 2004, to Toshiro Yoshie includes a removable seat apparatus that attaches to a mounting structure affixed to a foldable support base. The Yoshie child's chair provides a height adjustable chair mechanism that includes a compact folded storage configuration.
A convertible high chair, including a base and a chair attachable to the base by means of mechanical fasteners, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,922, granted on Sep. 15, 1998, to Israel Mendelovich, in which the support base can be disassembled to define a youth chair that has a lower seating surface than the high chair configuration that uses the full support base structure. The base and the chair in the Mendelovich patent are adapted to be assembled separately, such that the base and the chair may be much more compactly stored than previous convertible high chairs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,102, issued on Sep. 14, 1999, to Keith Poulson provides a high chair that is convertible to a booster seat. The booster seat has an attachment mechanism that engages tubes of the support frame at the seat bottom and seat back to convert the booster seat into a high chair. The seat position relative to the frame of the high chair is adjustable between an upright position and a reclined position. Similarly, the juvenile chair in U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,643, issued to James Kain on Apr. 18, 2000, can be separated from the support stand and utilized as a booster seat.
It would be desirable to provide a high chair structure that will provide greater flexibility in utilization in high chair and in booster chair configurations.